A Comparative Study On The Two English Versions Of Lun Yu From The Perspective Of Descriptive Translation Studies

Lun Yu, one of the typical Chinese Confucian classics, is a collection of recorded sayings and conversations given by Confucius and his disciples. From 1809 to present, this book has generated nearly 40 English versions, which provides a rich basis for the research of its English versions. The present paper is designed as a descriptive translation study on two different English versions of Lun Yu. Through an analysis of the operation of the translation norms employed by Gideon Toury, the paper is intended to explain how the socio-cultural factors influence the particular translation act and how the translation norms take effect into the production of translation.As is known to all, since 1950s, the translation study paradigm has tended to transform from prescriptive to descriptive perspective. The Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) describes the translation process, product and function, breaking through the limitation of the research confined only to pure texts, treating translation as a kind of cultural and historical phenomenon which lies in the Socio-culture system and making the scope of the translation phenomenon unprecedented expansion. This approach will help us understand translation phenomena better.There are many previous studies on translation of Lun Yu, in isolation from the socio-culture context of literary production. Thus the present paper employs Gideon Toury's descriptive methodology as theoretical basis to prize open the potential influence of the social, political and cultural environment of the translation of Lun Yu, to show that translators have to take into account the operation of norms in the production of translation and to think twice in the choice of a source text and the specific translation strategy. Besides, it can shed light on the translation of Chinese classics.This paper is composed of five Chapters: Chapter One gives an overview of whole paper, with an introduction of its research background, focus and objectives of the present study. Chapter Two is a literature review of previous studies on Lun Yu and Descriptive Translation Studies. Chapter Three provides a general introduction of the theoretical framework, with the main concepts of the DTS and the notion of the norms. Chapter Four makes a comparative analysis of the two English versions of Lun Yu from the descriptive perspective, with efforts to explore the social factors that influence the difference in the selected versions and how the translation norms take effect into the production of translation. Finally, the Chapter Five draws a conclusion from the descriptive studies on the two English versions of Lun Yu.